beach



(No Model.)

H. H. BEACH.

PROGESS 0F REMOVING TANNIO A011) FROM COFFEE. No. 300,436. PatentedJuneli, 1884.

WITNESSES VEi/TOI? lifforr ieiy HENRY H. BFAGH, OF ROME, KEV? YORK.

PRGCESS F REMOVING TANNEC AGED FFiOhi GGFFEE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,436, dated June 17, 1884.

Application filed July 13, (No model.)

Be it known that I, HENRY II. BEACH, of Rome, Oneida county, New York State, have invented a certain new and useful Process of Treating Coffee for the Removal therefrom of Tannic Acid and other Deleterious Substances, such as Must, of which the following is aspcct lication.

It is my object to extract and remove tannic acid and other deleterious substunccs such as 1nnst-lrom green coll'eeivith a view to improving it for subsequent use. I have discovered that in order to obtain this result the green coliec must be raised to the very considerable heat of 212 Fahrenheit, or thereabout. A materially less degree of heat is insuflicicnt for the purpose, and a materially greater degree of heat is inadmissible, for the reason that it injures the quality of the berry and impairs its flavor. Indeed the berry I find can be maintained at 212 only for a comparatively short time. To i'naintain the berry at this heat for much longer than fortyiivc minutes will injure it. I have, forinstauce, found in practice that it the heat he continued for, say, an hour and a half or two hours, the coffee will lose so much in quality and flavor as to be of little or no value. On the other hand, if the time be reduced much below forty-five minutes, the full benefit of the process will not be reached. In order to furnish the heat to the coffee, I make use of steam, which I discharge into and disseminate through the mass, leaving free escape for the vapor. By this means the mass is soon brought to 212 FahrenhGItfiYhIlO tin steam takes up and carries oli from the berries the acid, must, do, brought to the surface by its action. In this way I extracti'rom the coffee a considerable percentage oi'tannie acid and other deleterious matters contained therein Without injuring .its.

ilavor.

In. the accompanying; drawing, the single ligure represents a longitudinal vertical section of a coffee-roasting apparatus, to which my invention has been applied.

A. designates a furnace, and B a roastingcylinder. In the construction and arrange ment of these parts no novelty isherein claimed, and they may be omitted.

D is a hopper arranged and adapted to be connected 'ith the roastingcylinder by the discharge-pipe E, so that the contents of the hopper may be discharged into the cylinder through the said pipe. The hopper D has an inclined bottom slide, F, for the purpose of con vcying the water from the condensed steam to a suitable receptacle, G. The hopper D is provided with a cover, IL'through which passes a pipe, I, for the purpose of discharging the steam alter it has passed through the col'l'ee contained therein. The pipe J is connected with a steam-generator, and extends vertically into the hopper D, as shown, and is open at its lower end. This arrangement may be variously modified to produce alike result.

In operation, the coffee to be treated is turned into the hopper D, the cover placed .upon the latter, and steam admitted through the pipe J, so as to cause the coliee to become heated to about 212 Fahrenheit. I recommend to continue this process of steamingfor from thirty to l'orty-live minutes, (but this period may be varied,) when the supply of steam should be shut oil and the inclined bottom \vitlnlrau'n, thus causin the coffee to pass into the roasting-eylindcr, where the roasting process is proceeded with in the usual manner.

I have described and shown an arrangement by which the coffee alter treatment by my process may be immediately roasted; but the process maybe conducted independently of a roaster, and the col'lee subsequently dried and stored for future use, in which case the high heat of the coliec will assist in its subsequent drying.

My experience has shown that by careful treatment by this process a considerable amount oi tannic acid and other deleterious substances-snclras must are removed therefrom, and the col'i'ee much improved in quality.

I am aware that green. coffee has been artificiallysweated bysubiecting it for from one to four days to the actionol" heat in a closed vessel or compartment, to which steam is admitted in quantity suliicient to supply the desired moisture to produce sweating. This is not my invention.

hat I claim as new and of my invention The process of treating coffee for the removal of tannic acid and other deleterious substances therefrom, which consists in heating the green eofl'ee by means of steam to about 212 Fahrenheit for about the time specified, and removing the matter extracted from the berry, submy own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY H. BEACH.

Vitnesses:

EDWARD G. SIGGERS. 

